In a statement, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the decision was made following a meeting held by the Drug Control Authority (DCA) today.

The ministry has approved the conditional registration of the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine, which will have a much lower dosage of 10mcg compared with the 30mcg normally administered to those aged 12 and above.

At the same time, conditional registration has also been given for a Pfizer vaccine, Comirnaty (Tris/Sucrose) 30mcg, which is a new formula that does not have to be diluted before being administered.

This new formula is said to have a longer shelf life, which is 10 weeks compared with the current formula which can be stored for only a month at between 2°C and 8°C after defrosting.

The registration holder for both Pfizer vaccines is Pfizer (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and it is manufactured by BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH from Germany.

Meanwhile, conditional approval has been granted for the Convidecia vaccine as a booster for those aged 18 and above, with an interval period of three to six weeks after the first dose from the same type of vaccine.

The registration holder for this vaccine is Solution Biologics Sdn Bhd and it is manufactured by CanSino Biologics Inc in China.

The ministry also said that the safety and efficacy of the vaccines will be monitored and evaluated on an ongoing basis by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency, based on fresh data.

This is to ensure that the comparison of benefits over risk for these vaccines remain positive.